Old Town fire damages apartment, claims lives of two dogs

OLD TOWN, Maine — Two dogs perished in an apartment fire early Saturday afternoon in Old Town.

Lt. Mike Hildreth of the Old Town Fire Department said a call came in that heavy smoke was billowing from an apartment attached by a breezeway to a ranch-style home on Kirkland Road.

When firefighters arrived, they found smoke and fire heaviest in the kitchen of the apartment and were forced to cut holes into the roof to attack the flames, he said. Although the fire was extinguished relatively quickly, the apartment was heavily damaged and is not livable, Hildreth said. The attached home was not damaged.

The tenants were not home when crews arrived but did show up shortly afterward, the Old Town fire official said. Two dogs died in the fire, but one dog and one cat were found safe.

A team of investigators was surveying the damage late Saturday afternoon to determine how and where the fire started, but Hildreth said it didn’t appear suspicious.